Christmas Story: Getting Still Colder
by Chiuu
Summary: Christmas Eve. Perfect time to be with family and friends. Perfect time to show you care and love. Perfect time to calm down, relax and just enjoy. So why was he sulking alone at a time like this?   AU Christmas Story.


_A/N: Merry Christmas. I found some time to write a Christmas story even though I've been busy buying presents and cleaning up the house...But still forgive me if this is a little rushed or something, it's hard to keep my thought focused this time of the year. Christmas is really important event to me so I'm always a bit giddy with excitement and daydream a lot in December. Anyway, I hope this fic is enjoyable and not too sappy, even though in my opinion it's okay for a Christmas story to be a bit cheesy. _

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Christmas Story

(Getting still colder)

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Christmas Eve.

Perfect time to be with family and friends.

Perfect time to show you care and love.

Perfect time to calm down, relax and just enjoy.

So why was he sulking alone at a time like this?

A cold, freezing breeze nipped at his face and he frowned and wrinkled his nose, not pleased at all. He was trudging out in the cold, high snowdrifts and brightly shining Christmas lights surrounding him. From distance, he could hear some happy Christmas songs being played and children laughing giddily, probably playing in the snow while waiting for Santa Claus. He rolled his eyes and sighed, feeling frustrated and annoyed, but slightly sad at the same time (but he did not want to acknowledge that).

He shivered from the cold as he continued walking onwards, not truly having anywhere to go to. Even though he had put on many layers of warm clothing, he was still freezing to death and that dampened his already dull spirit.

What a way to spend Christmas, walking alone and moping around. But what could he do? There was no one at home to talk to and most of his friends weren't in the town.

Well, he had been invited to little a Christmas party between friends who had stayed home, but he had left quite shortly because of certain incident.

It was really his own fault that he was spending his Christmas alone.

It was his fault that he wasn't with his family. He had had a stupid fight with his half brother, Sesshomaru, once again and even though still after that Sesshomaru and his wife had invited him and his parents for a dinner, he had refused to go, silently cursing his pride at the same time. The disappointment on his parents' faces had been obvious, but he tried not to think about it. They should've been used to it by now.

It was also his fault that he had left the Christmas party and his friends. Kouga, one of his friends, had been talking and laughing with his best friend and short-time girlfriend, Kagome, and he had immediately jumped into conclusions and got jealous. And after that when it had been the time to give presents and she had gotten so many expensive and gorgeous presents from their friends while he, her boyfriend, had only gotten her a small locket that wasn't even beautiful because he had made it himself, it had been too much for him. His short-tempered nature had won over his ability of thinking rationally and calmly once again. He had stormed out without saying anything to anyone. And now that he had cooled down a bit, he was too worried about his pride to go back.

He was starting to feel rather numb for he had been walking around for quite some time. The cold weather was getting even colder. And furthermore, it was getting dark. He couldn't hear the songs or laughing anymore, but he didn't know whether it was because he had walked away from that neighborhood or because it was late. He glanced up at the sky and could see some stars beginning to twinkle.

He noticed an old wooden bench next to him on the side of the road and sat down on it. He watched the stars and their soft light and wondered why he had to be so immature all the time. He couldn't help himself though. Especially not when it was about Kagome and the risk of losing her.

Kagome…

He closed his eyes. He thought about Kagome. Kagome and her stupid happy smile that made his heart beat faster than what was healthy. Kagome and her stupid beautiful eyes full of life that were easy to get lost into. Kagome and her stupid cute outfits he couldn't tear his eyes off of. Kagome and her stupid rich personality that was full of surprises. Kagome who made him all sappy and frustrated, but who he loved very much.

Inuyasha sighed. He imagined Kagome sitting there with him, smiling at him. He could almost hear her saying his name…

"Inuyasha."

It felt as if she was really there with him.

Wait.

His eyes snapped open and he turned toward the source of the voice.

Kagome stood in front of him. She looked concerned. And cute. She was dressed up as an elf-girl. As Inuyasha admired her attire like he had been doing earlier that night at the party, he noticed that she didn't have anything that would warm her head or hands – no gloves or hat, nothing.

"Are you crazy, woman? It's freezing out here!" he exclaimed and stood up.

"You don't have any gloves either…" she pointed out, but he just shrugged off the comment.

"You should be inside. What are you even doing here?" he asked.

She continued to look worried. "I came after you. What happened? You just disappeared."

He just grumbled something incoherent.

"Inuyasha…" She stepped closer. He wanted her to stop looking so concerned.

"I didn't want to ruin your Christmas," he mumbled and he had to lean in closer to hear it.

"What are you talking about?" She looked puzzled.

"Well, I was acting stupid again, wasn't I?" he said more harshly than he meant and he turned away from her. "I got jealous even though you've said to me many times that there's nothing between you and Kouga and I was all grumpy after that. And I gave you the ugliest and cheapest present too… " He trailed off, wishing she would just go back to the party or somewhere else warm where she wouldn't shiver and tremble so much.

She sighed and slowly wrapped her arms around him, hugging him from behind.

"It's okay. I'm used to your jealousy. It didn't ruin my Christmas. I was expecting it. And you didn't even really get into a big fight with him, so I was quite pleased that it went so well." She tightened her arms around him. He just frowned and stared at her hands that were starting to turn blue. "And yes, you were grumpy after that which was quite annoying but I figured that you would brighten up once you got your present… But I didn't have the opportunity to give it to you since you ran away to sulk."

He turned around in her arms and opened his mouth to say something but she silenced him by pressing her cold hand against his mouth. "I'm going to give it to you soon. But let me make one thing clear to you first." She quickly removed her hand and kissed him deeply before talking again, this time sounding a bit breathless.

"The present you gave me was the best of them all! It's beautiful!"" she exclaimed as she tugged at the locket she was wearing. He raised his eyebrows, surprised. He hadn't noticed it. And she said it was beautiful? Was he hearing things?

He opened his mouth and this time she let him speak. "But… I made it myself. And it's all battered…"

She just smiled. "Have more confidence! This is really pretty. And I really appreciate the effort you must have put into making this," she said and then asked; "Say, did Totosai teach you?"

He nodded and she grinned. "Aww, even though you always argue with him, you still asked his help because of me. I'm touched." He blushed and felt happy all of sudden, forgetting his previous moping. '_She likes my present!_'

She hugged him again and they stayed like that for a while until she spoke up. "I made you something myself too," she said as she handed him his skillfully wrapped present. He eagerly opened it and smiled widely when he saw what he got from her. It was a big heart-shaped cookie that had their names written on it. He was beginning to feel sappy again in her presence, but thankfully Kagome said something before he got the chance to be too cheesy.

"Let's go now… I can't feel my hands anymore." She started to walk forward, but paused when she noted that he wasn't following. She turned back to look at him. He looked confused. "The party is this way…" he said and pointed towards the way he had come from. She nodded. "I know." When he looked even more confused, she added. "We're not going back to the party."

As she started to walk again, he hurried next to her. "Where are we going then?" he asked.

She smiled and took his hand in hers. "We're going to you brother's house to eat dinner," she told him. Before he could ask, she said; "I called your parents to say Merry Christmas and they told me about your little fight with Sesshomaru." She looked him in the eye. "There still some of this Christmas Eve left. It's not ruined at all yet for any of us. It's not too late to apologize and have fun. They're waiting for us," she stated and he nodded. Hopefully his parents would forgive him his childish behavior. And for Kagome, he could even apologize to his annoying brother.

As they walked towards Sesshomaru and Rin's place together, hand in hand, the cold weather was getting still colder and they still kept shivering and were quite numb, but somehow they both could feel warmth spreading from where their hands touched and they weren't afraid of hypothermia anymore.

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